January 5 - Henry Lawes (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Henry Lawes (bapt. 5 January 1596 – 21 October 1662) was the leading English songwriter of the mid-17th century.

[For last year's thoughts on Wieland Wagner and Friedrich Blume click here.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oohs and Aahs

Oh ring the bells and lend applause!

And sing this day of Henry Lawes!

Although I fear you won’t because

You’re not aware of who he was.

Then, read my verse, reflect, and pause,

Before forgetting Henry Lawes.

 

 

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]

 

 

January 4 - Giovanni Battista Pergolesi; Josef Suk (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (4 January 1710 – 16 or 17 March 1736) was a short-lived composer remembered for operas and sacred works.

[For last years verse on Pergolesi click here.] 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

26

Pergolesi, showed his gumption,

Though he suffered from consumption,

Scribbling notes on music papers

By the light of candle tapers,

Filling up inspired pages

For the local courts and stages.

Thus, it pains me to report

That his time on earth was short.

He was sick and never sturdy

And he died four years from thirty.

 

 

 

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪      

 

 

Josef Suk (4 January 1874 – 29 May 1935) was a Bohemian composer and violinist. He studied under Dvořák, whose daughter he married.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Family Questions

Was Suk ever flustered or bothered

That his wife was so famously fathered?

Did it bug him to spend his whole life

In the shade of the dad of his wife?

 

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

January 3 - Victor Borge (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Victor Borge (3 January 1909 – 23 December 2000) was a Danish-born comedian and pianist.

[For last year's verses on Victor Borge and Henriette Sontag click here.] 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfinished Masterpieces

Victor Borge, whose comic routine

Enlivened the classical scene,

Would start a few bars

Of a favorite of ours,

But clowning would soon intervene.

A Lively Old Elf

Victor Borge had mastered the trick

Of a middle-brow musical schtick.

His adept comic timing

At mugging and miming,

(Like Santa), was “lively and quick”.

 

 

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]

 

 

January 2 - Eric Whitacre (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Eric Whitacre (b. 2 January 1970) is an American composer, conductor, and speaker known for his choral, orchestral, and wind ensemble music. 

[For last year's thoughts on Mily Balakirev, Michael Tippet, and Gardner Read click here.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eric Whitacre: A Review

There’s oodles of music in which he

Is gaudy and harmlessly kitschy.

Performers can wallow,

It’s pretty, but hollow,...

But perhaps I’m too snobbishly bitchy.

 

 

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]

 

 

 

January 1 - Milt Jackson (The Musical Birthday Series, 2nd Annual Cycle)

Milton "Bags" Jackson (1 January 1923 – 9 October 1999) was an American Jazz vibraphonist.

[For last year's quatrain on Xavier Cugat click here.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MJ and MJQ

The world of jazz and its scribes

     Are unlikely to forget

Milt Jackson playing vibes

     With the Modern Jazz Quartet.

 

 

 

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]